955,264 Shares in Crane (NYSE:CR) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 955,264 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $144,961,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crane by 328.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after acquiring an additional 18,236 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Crane by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,902 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Crane by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,037 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at about $518,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Crane in the 3rd quarter valued at about $293,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total value of $392,011.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CR has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Crane Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CR opened at $153.77 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.12. Crane has a 1 year low of $128.50 and a 1 year high of $188.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

Crane Company Profile

Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials.